Category Archives: article

Original articles by Tech Liberty

article, filtering

Survey shows opposition to mandatory govt internet filter

InternetNZ has commissioned a survey of the public’s thoughts about the government’s internet filter. Some of the interesting results include:

  • Very few people (only 9%) knew whether their ISP used the government filter. The ISPs using the filter represent more than 90% of the NZ internet market.
  • Less than a quarter (23%) wanted the government choosing whether to filter their internet connection.
  • Two-thirds want the filter to include other, non-specified, content.

Tech Liberty’s Comment

We’ve always been opposed to the government’s internet censorship system but support the right of people to choose filtering for themselves or their families. We’re pleased to see that the people of New Zealand agree with us, rejecting the idea of letting the government impose centralised censorship.

Unfortunately we already have such a system. While it is voluntary at the ISP level, their users get no say in the matter and this survey shows that most are unaware that they are covered by it. We also note that with Telecom, Vodafone and 2 Degrees all having implemented the filter there are no major providers of censorship free mobile data in New Zealand, further undermining any voluntary aspect to the current filter.

At the same time it also seems obvious that the internet has a lot of disturbing content that you might want to block other than just child pornography. Therefore it makes sense that someone wanting “cleaner internet” at their home would be looking for a more general purpose filter than the government’s one. A number of ISPs do offer such a service (either free or as an add-on) and it seems that they should be promoting this further.

In conclusion, it seems that the survey shows that the current government internet filter is implemented the wrong way for the wrong purpose and by the wrong people.

article, copyright, TPP

TPP Update

2 Comments

While ACTA gets all the attention in Europe, the governments involved in negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement are still charging ahead. There have been 10 major negotiating rounds as well as many inter-session meetings, with the countries involved aiming to get it finished before the end of 2012.

You can read more about the TPP treaty, or why we think it’s flawed, but this update is based on what we’ve been reading and a briefing from NZ officials today.

Firstly, the negotiators now have a consolidated draft text that they are working through slowly. Apparently the intellectual property (IP) sections are the most contentious with a lot of major differences still to be resolved.

Secondly, the main IP alternatives are the US proposal (leaked here and similar to other recent trade deals signed by the US) that would see copyright laws become more restrictive, more punitive and less just, versus the NZ/Chile ideas (leaked draft papers) which are largely based on TRIPS and allow for more flexibility between countries and even include some protection for consumers rather than just large media companies.

Thirdly, the US proposed IP chapter goes even further than what they originally proposed for ACTA (which was substantially watered down during the negotiating process). It includes internet account termination, statutory or triple damages in civil suits, an extension of what would count as criminal copyright infringement, allowing copyright holders to ban parallel importing, and criminal penalties for circumventing copy protection measures even if you weren’t breaching copyright. As is typical with these types of proposals, respect for the right to due process and a fair trial are sadly lacking.

Finally, the whole process is still very secretive with little information getting out. There is not intention to release any draft texts, and the countries involved have even agreed not to release details of negotiations until four years after the treaty is signed.

What you can do

There’s still a long way to go in the TPP negotiating process and there’s still room to demand a better treaty and a more open process. Write to your MP and make sure they’re aware of what’s happening and that you’re not happy about it

Considering joining TPP Watch if you’re opposed to the whole treaty, or on the IP front NZ Rise is doing good work on sticking up for our local IT industry while Creative Freedom Foundation NZ is defending the interests of local artists.

You can keep up with TPP news with the TPP Digest or by following Michael Geist, Knowledge Ecology International and Public Knowledge.

article, copyright

MegaUpload arrests in New Zealand

15 Comments

NZ police have arrested four people connected with MegaUpload.com in New Zealand today at the request of the US FBI. They have been charged in the US “with running an international organized criminal enterprise allegedly responsible for massive worldwide online piracy of numerous types of copyrighted works through Megaupload.com and other related sites”. (FBI press release.)

Comment

We have little faith in the fairness and appropriateness of the US’s laws and processes around copyright and intellectual property. The US government is continually strengthening its copyright laws at the behest of the entertainment industry (see SOPA and PIPA) and is trying to pass laws that we would not like to see copied in NZ.

Will this NZ police cooperation lead to New Zealanders being arrested and handed over to the US for doing things that may not be serious offences in New Zealand? Which other countries’ laws do New Zealanders have to obey when using the internet?

Whether this case is an example of good international cooperation or the US demanding other countries help enforce bad law is yet to be determined. We will be monitoring this issue closely and hope to publish more information as it is available.

Media Links

Useful Links

article, copyright

Requirements for valid copyright infringement notices

Recently we examined some of the first copyright infringement notices sent by Orcon and noticed that they did not comply with the regulations.

The omissions are significant and make it harder for the accounts holder to challenge the notice on the facts, but we believe there are excellent grounds for challenging the notice because the notice itself is invalid. The rights holders may or may not accept this but ultimately it will be up to the Copyright Tribunal to make the final decision.

Notice Requirements

So, what are the requirements for a valid infringement notice? They’re spelt out in two places – the Copyright Act (mainly section 122) and the associated Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Regulations. We’ll only be looking at the requirements for the notices from the ISP (internet service provider) to the account holder (the person paying for the internet connection).

A detection notice must include:
Continue reading Requirements for valid copyright infringement notices →

article, copyright

Are some Copyright Infringement notices invalid?

10 Comments

One of the outstanding issues of the changes to the Copyright Act has been whether rights holders would issue notices that comply with the law. Since our regulations outline a number of detailed requirements for notices, rights holders cannot simply pass on whatever they send in other countries.

The first few issued notices are starting to leak out and it appears that they do not comply.

An Orcon user posted to the 3strikes forum copies of the notices they received. Comparing the information provided on those notices to the law and regulations, we noted the following problems:

  • There is no description of the type of work as per 14(1) of the Copyright Act. (Regulations 4(2)c(iii).)
  • The nature of the breach (as described by 15(1) of the Copyright Act) is not specified. (Regulations 4(2)c(iv).) The notice only says a breach has taken place, not the nature of it.
  • The date and time given on the first notice is not specified to the second. (Regulations, 4(2)c(v).)
  • The file sharing application or network is not specified. (Regulations, 4(2)c(vi).)
  • The notice number does not include information that identifies the type of notice or the IPAP that sent it. (Regulations 5(2)(b) & (c).)

These details matter because the account holder needs to understand what they are accused of so that they can properly defend themselves.

Account suspension

We are also deeply concerned that the notice makes the claim that your Internet connection can be suspended by the District Court for up to six months. This part of the law has not yet been activated, and it is alarming that notices are already misleading users on possible penalties. Orcon should not be making such claims.

Concluding questions

The notices as posted do not comply with the requirements of the law and regulations.

Does this mean that they are invalid and can be challenged (or ignored) as such?

Will the Copyright Tribunal accept them as valid or not?

Does this mean that all notices sent through Orcon are invalid?

article, surveillance

Is your mobile company spying on you?

5 Comments

There has been a bit of a kerfuffle in the press recently about Carrier IQ – a piece of software that hides on your phone and reports data back to the telephone company. (More technical details here.)

We wanted to know whether New Zealand telecommunications companies are installing this sort of software on the phones they sell to us.

Telecom deny that they used anything of the sort:

No, we do not use Carrier IQ. Our devices do not come loaded with this type of software and we don’t have an agreement with Carrier IQ or any other company that implements tools like this.

Vodafone also deny using such software and make a good point about it contravening the Privacy Act:

Vodafone would never knowingly contravene the privacy act and to the best of our knowledge this software is not on any of the devices we sell.

Telstraclear have also denied it (brevity due to denial being via Twitter):

@TelstraClearNZ No, our devices do not keylog. ^TN

2 Degrees joins the rest:

No, we haven’t. The only customer information 2degrees records is for billing purposes. We don’t monitor our customers’ handset activity or request that any software to do so is installed on devices.

Thanks to @nzkarit on Twitter for his assistance with this article.

article, copyright

MED confirms talks about centralised copyright notice system

The Ministry of Economic Development has confirmed that it has been involved in talks about a centralised system for handling copyright infringement notices (see earlier article).

These talks have included meetings with representatives from IPSafe (www.ipsafe.co.nz) and Datacom (www.datacom.co.nz). IP Safe’s website is rather minimal and they have not responded to our queries. Their record at the Companies Office lists three directors, Chris Riddell, Wared Seger and Adel Shahin.

They also note that the Telecommunications Carriers Forum (TCF) submission about the law suggested that a centralised system run by the government would be the best approach, but this was not picked up by the Select Committee.

The MED goes on to say that they are not in the process of considering such a system and “that specific arrangements for the implementation of the Act are a matter for Internet Service Providers to agree on between themselves.”

The questions have to be: why is Datacom involved and who are they working on behalf of? Who are IP Safe and what is their involvement?

article, filtering, privacy

Interview – Cyberdodge VPN service

1 Comment

An interview with Ross from Cyberdodge, a supplier of VPN services that enables internet users to hide what they do on the internet.

What inspired you to offer the service?

People will always choose the easiest way to get the latest movies and TV shows and downloading off the internet is it. Unfortunately options are now limited to VPN tunnels not only for p2p but also for using an American IP address to get access to TV sites like www.hulu.com.

Are you getting many customers and what do they want it for?

Yes I am. VPN tunnels have a number of uses that include getting an American IP address to watch tv sites such as hulu.com, encrypt internet traffic when they are using a public WiFi point and of course hiding their real IP address.

How do you feel about the fact that some of your customers will probably be using your service to break NZ law?

No Comment.

What sort of information do you keep about your customers?

We only keep the email address.

What sort of information do you keep about your customers connections? (Such as when they connect, how long they connect for, anything they do through the service.)

We do not log what the user does or transfers over our network but we do log the time of connection and disconnection. We use this data to strategically deploy network resources. We also log the country the user is logging in from, this helps us to detect hijacked accounts and abuse. We do not log IP addresses.

Do you think your business has an obligation under the Telecommunications (Interception Capability) Act to allow the NZ police or other enforcement agencies to monitor traffic?

No, I am not a network operator. A network operator means a person who owns, controls, or operates a public telecommunications network or a person who supplies (whether by wholesale or retail) another person with the capability to provide a telecommunications service. CyberDodge does not provide anyone else with the capability to provide a service and CyberDodge is not a public telecommunications network. Public telecommunications network means a public switched telephone network and a public data network. CyberDodge is not a public switched telephone network nor a public data network. A public data network means a data network used, or intended for use, in whole or in part, by the public and includes, without limitation, the following facilities: Internet access and email access. CyberDodge requires that you have internet and email access already. This law applies to ISPs, which CyberDodge is not.

Do you think your business has an obligation under the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Act to store customer IP addresses so that you can pass on notices?

No, I am not a IPAP. IPAP, or Internet protocol address provider, means a person that operates a business that, other than as an incidental feature of its main business activities, offers the transmission, routing, and providing of connections for digital online communications, between or among points specified by a user, of material of the user’s choosing and allocates IP addresses to its account holders and charges its account holders for its services and is not primarily operated to cater for transient users. CyberDodge does not offer the transmission nor providing of connections for digital online communications. CyberDodge only routes digital online communications. This law applies to ISPs and CyberDodge is not a ISP.

article, surveillance

Can you photograph or video the police in New Zealand?

2 Comments

There has been a recent spate of people being arrested in the USA and UK for taking photos and video of the police at work. We also found anecdotal evidence of police in New Zealand exceeding their legal authority when it came to people taking photos and video of them:

“Taking photographs around Cuba Mall and a police officer approached and said ‘Would you like me to break that?’ indicating the camera. He was exceedingly hostile and it turned out it was because the officer thought he had been photographed by us.”

“Have to wonder why they confiscate cameras and tapes then. We were told we could pick the tapes up from the station… at which point any knowledge of the tapes was denied.”

The legal situation in New Zealand

Firstly, it is generally accepted that anyone can photograph or video anyone else as long as the subject wouldn’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy. There are a range of exceptions, but are the police one of them?

We wrote to both the Police Commissioner and the Minister of Police and asked them “Is it against the law in New Zealand to take photos of video of the police at work?”

The Police responded first: “No, not if the photos of video of police at work are taken in a public place, or with the landowner’s consent if on private property.”

Judith Collins, the Minister of Police, backed up the Police’s position in her response, going on to say that she saw no need to change the law and was not aware of any plans to do so.

Conclusion

It seems clear that in New Zealand the police can’t stop you from documenting what they are doing. They have no power to stop you, seize your camera or force you to delete images or video.

We believe that this is a good thing and is part of having a police force that is accountable to the people they serve. The police hold most of the cards when it comes to dealing with the public, and the prospect of being recorded should provide a brake on any temptation to abuse those powers.

However one concern remains. Police training does not cover this issue and it seems that some officers feel free to make up their own powers as they go. We recommend that the NZ Police should make sure that this is included in initial and continuing training.

Finally, we remind anyone taking photos of police at incidents to make sure that you do not get in their way or you could be arrested for obstruction.

article, copyright

Ministry of Economic Development says “ISPs” not liable for copyright infringement

1 Comment

[This article has been corrected. Please see explanatory note at the end.]

Liability under the new copyright law

One of the issues that we and many others have with the new copyright law is that it unfairly penalises people for the actions of others. You’re either an IPAP (a very tight definition of ISP) or an account holder, and if you’re an account holder you’re liable for the actions of anyone using that internet account.

This means that hotels will be liable for the actions of their guests, universities for the actions of students, the person paying the bill will be liable for their flatmates, and you’d be better be careful about which of your guests you let use your internet while they visit your house.

Ministry of Economic Development advises differently

However, it seems that the Ministry of Economic Development has a different interpretation of the law. The owner of a homestay, concerned that as the account holder he would be liable for his guests, recently contacted the Ministry of Development.

The advice he received from the Ministry was that if he is providing internet services but does not meet the requirements to be an IPAP under section 122, then he must be an ISP and would be safe from liability according to section 92B.

Furthermore, if he received an infringement notice he just had to respond and say that he ran a homestay and that would be the end of it. As he observed, “What’s to stop anyone claiming that their house is a homestay?”

Our interpretation

We don’t find this interpretation particularly convincing (nor did we find it convincing when the NZCS made a very similar argument in their submission (PDF) to the MED).

The intent of the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Act seems to be to catch everyone. If we accept the MED interpretation, the definition of ISP in the Copyright Act is so wide that anyone who shared their internet connection with another would thereby be able to claim immunity under it. The law would be fatally undermined.

While we think that this wouldn’t be a bad thing, as it would remove liability from account holders who shared their internet and thus avoid the problem of punishing people for the actions of others, it seems clear that this is not the intention of the law makers.

Ultimately this argument will be tested at the Copyright Tribunal and possibly in court, but for now we caution against relying on this advice from the Ministry of Economic Dvelopment. This means that you should assume that the account holder will be liable for any infringing file sharing performed over their internet connection.

[Correction: The article as originally posted said that the advice was from the Ministry of Justice. The MoJ contacted us to deny giving advice to anyone. We followed up with our original source and managed to establish that the advice was actually from the Ministry of Economic Development. We apologise for the error.]